NC State Men Already Nearing NCAA Roster Limit With Likely Qualifiers

2022 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Tuesday, February 15th to Saturday, February 19th Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00 pm (Tuesday 11:00am/4:30pm)
• Where: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions
  • Women: University of Virginia (17x) (results)
  • Men: University of Louisville (1x) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Tuesday (prelims/finals)
  • Wednesday (prelims/finals)
  • Thursday (prelims/finals)
  • Friday (prelims/finals)
  • Saturday (prelims/1650s/finals)
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

Given the rather…complicated…method of inviting swimmers to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, it’s hard to say with certainty exactly who will and will not get an invite until the powers that be release the kraken…er…official psych sheets…early in March.

While getting an ‘A’ time gives you a very nice sense of security, coaches and swimmers and nerdy swim fans know from year to year what sort of times are almost certain to get an invite, and the NC State mens, in addition to dominating the ACC Championships, are racking up a ton of likely NCAA invites this week, building on some fast times from earlier in the season.

In fact, with two days left in the conference championship, it looks like 17 NC State men are pretty well assured of a NCAA invite. Here’s the list of names, along with at least one event in which each swimmer seems to be safe. I’ve been keeping track of this chronologically, so the event listed may not necessarily be the swimmer’s best event or most recent time this season, either. Feel free to fact check and leave scathing comments if I’m wrong on any of this.

1. Noah Henderson – 50 free (19.12)
2. Luke Miller – 200 free (1:32.46)
3. Hunter Tapp – 200 free (1:32.72)
4. Will Gallant – 1650 (14:49.10)
5. Kacper Stokowski – 100 back (44.79)
6. Nyls Korstanje – 100 fly (44.76)
7. Aiden Hayes – 200 fly (1:42.02)
8. Mikey Moore – 400 IM (3:42.89)
9. Sam Hoover – 200 free (1:32.62)
10. Ross Dant – 500 free (4:10.35)
11. James Plage – 500 free (4:12.57)
12. Eric Knowles – 500 free (4:13.60)
13. Giovanni Izzo – 200 IM (1:42.97)
14. Arsenio Bustos – 200 IM (1:43.41)
15. David Curtiss – 50 free (18.74)
16. Noah Bowers – 200 free (1:32.97)
17. Bartosz Piszczorowicz – 200 free (1:33.23)

So far, the only swimmer on their ACC roster who doesn’t seem to be locked in for an invite is Rafal Kusto, their primary breaststroker. Kusto did earn an invite last year, and he still has the 100 and the 200 breast tomorrow, so if he’s fast enough in either event over the next two days, it looks like the Wolfpack may max out their NCAA roster, as teams are allowed a maximum of 18 swimmers (we’re going assume that NC State isn’t going to qualify any divers, as that would further complicate the math, and it’s getting late).

If Kusto does qualify, and if a swimmer who didn’t make the ACC roster but could still earn an invite (e.g., Zach Brown, who made NCAAs last year), does in fact go fast enough to earn an invite in the next couple of weeks, head coach Braden Holloway and team will find themselves in the same enviable position as the Texas Longhorns the last few years — having to leave NCAA qualifiers at home.

While the Wolfpack men have had a meteoric rise over the last decade, this would be a new, good problem for them.

Number of NC State’s NCAA Qualifiers, 2017-2021

• 2021 – 14
• 2020 – 7
• 2019 – 11
• 2018 – 12
• 2017 – 10

There’s no guarantee that all these qualifiers will repeat their ACC performances at NCAAs, but after a small bump last year, it’s looking increasingly likely that NC State is back on track to make some noise towards the very top of the NCAA standings.